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bum 15
10 Day
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Mr Hibbert
MACAO AIRPORT
VUNE LDENI TAL
W. Frals
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I attach copies of the .
1. Your minute of 26 April refers.
B, C Portuguese Embassy's memorandum and of the FCO's reply.
2. The text of the reply was the subject of much deliberation
within the FCO, with DOT and with Hong Kong. (Copies of the
papers also went to HM Embassy Lisbon). The proposal for
an airport is the pet project of Colonel Leandro, the Governor
of Macao, who broached it first with the Governor of Hong Kong.
According to Colonel Leandro, the Chinese did not oppose the
proposal when Colonel Hugo dos Santos (currently Commander of
Portugal's Central Military Region) visited Peking in summer 1976.
The Portuguese Embassy's memorandum also implied that the Portu-
guese Government supported the proposal. Whitehall and Hong Kong
share the Portuguese Ambassador's doubts about the viability
of the proposal but in the interest of Anglo/Portuguese and
Hong Kong/Macao relations, sought to avoid rejecting it in terms.
The need for a formal statement of Chinese views, which would,
certainly be required anyway, was therefore emphasised. It
was hoped that the proposal would founder on Chinese rather
than British or Hong Kong objections.
3. The Portuguese could, I think, obtain a formal view from
the Chinese Civil Aviation Authorities if they really want to,
despite the absence of diplomatic relations.
(According to
/the Portuguese
A
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